Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands

Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands are American Indian tribes with similar cultures in the northeastern and the Midwest United States and southeastern parts of Canada. There are three areas in the Northeastern Woodlands. The coastal area runs from South Carolina up to Canada. Saint Lawrence Lowlands includes parts of Ontario and New York. The Great Lakes-Riverine  area is around the Great Lakes. There are different landscapes in the region. They include coasts, forests, mountains and lowlands. The Northeastern Woodlands are surrounded by the Subartic, Great Plains and Southeastern Woodlands. Algonquian, Iroquoian, or Siouan are the three language groups of the area.

 Language Groups and Tribes 
Algonquian-speaking tribes are Abenaki, Accomac, Delaware (Lenape), Fox, Illinois, Kickapoo, Malecite, Massachusett, Menominee, Miami, Mi’kmaq (Micmac), Mohegan, Mohican (Mahican) Montauk, Nanticoke, Niantic, Nipmuc, Narragansett, Nauset, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Pennacook. Pequot, Pocomtuc, Potawatomi, Powhatan, Sauk, Shawnee, Wampanoag and Wappinger. These tribes were all over the Northeast and along the coast except near the Great Lakes.

Iroquoian speaking tribes include Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Huron, Mohawk, Petun, Tionontati, Neutral, Wenrohronon, Tuscarora, Erie, Susquehannock, and Laurentian Iroquois. The Five Nations included Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. They were part of the Iroquois Confederacy.

Siouan language tribes include Winnebago, Tutelo and Yankton. Most Siouan are closer to the Plains region.

 History 
The Hopewell culture developed in 200 BC. They were in the Midwest and Ohio. The culture disappeared after 400 CE. The Algonquian and Iroquoian tribes developed around 1100. This was in present-day New England.Klein, Milton M. (ed.) and the New York State Historical Association, The Empire State: A History of New York, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 2001, ISBN 0-8014-3866-7 The Iroquois was a powerful confederacy of tribes from about 1400 to 1700 CE.Horatio Gates Spafford, LL.D. A Gazetteer of the State of New-York, Embracing an Ample Survey and Description of Its Counties, Towns, Cities, Villages, Canals, Mountains, Lakes, Rivers, Creeks and Natural Topography. Arranged in One Series, Alphabetically: With an Appendix… (1824), at Schenectady Digital History Archives, selected extracts, accessed December 28, 2014 Lenni-Lenape lived in present-day Delaware and New Jersey. They were forced off their lands by Europeans. The Powhatan Confederacy (Tsenacommacah) were tribes in present-day Virginia. Chief Powhatan was the father of Pocahontas. The region of the Powhatan was the first area that British settled, including Jamestown.

 Culture 
Northeast Woodland Natives usually lived in wigwams or longhouses. They traded wampum, which were shell beads. Natives used the  birchbark canoe for hunting, warfare and fishing. The main crops were the Three Sisters. This included winter squash, maize (corn), and climbing beans. They were grown together to improve growth.Mount Pleasant, Jane (2006). "The science behind the Three Sisters mound system: An agronomic assessment of an indigenous agricultural system in the northeast". In Staller, John E.; Tykot, Robert H.; Benz, Bruce F. (eds.). Histories of Maize: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Prehistory, Linguistics, Biogeography, Domestication, and Evolution of Maize. Amsterdam: Academic Press. pp. 529–537. ISBN 978-1-5987-4496-5. There were villages of a few hundred people. Some areas like Cahokia had many people. Men usually planted and harvested, while women processed plants. The clan was an important social group. They were often named after animals like  the bear, hawk, turtle or wolf. Natives believed in spiritual force that was everywhere. Manitou was the spiritual life force. It could reveal itself as the Great Spirit.Bragdon, Kathleen J. (2001). The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Northeast. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 18. Totem animals were also sacred.

 Related pages 
 Southeastern Woodlands
 Plains Indians 
 Native Americans in the United States

References

Category:Native Americans